Typewriter for braille dots and/or visual letters



y 1962 MASAHARU WATARl 3,032,164

TYPEWRITER FOR BRAILLE DOTS AND/OR VISUAL LETTERS Filed Feb. 19, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 1 F 'ql 7 1 Y 6 3 4 m TX s M. 0 a

y 1962 MASAHARU WATARI 3,032,164

TYPEWRITER FOR BRAILLE DOTS AND/OR VISUAL LETTERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledFeb. 19, 1958 United States Patent Ofifice 3,032,164 Patented May 1,1962 3,032,164 TYPEWRITER FOR BRAILLE DOTS AND/R VISUAL LETTERS MasaharuWatari, No. 1, Kaehidokibashi l-choine, Tokushimashi, Japan Filed Feb.19, 1958, Ser. No. 716,137 7 Claims. (Cl. 197--6.1)

The present invention relates to a typewriter for writing Braille dotsand/or visual letters.

Hitherto Braille characters represented by raised dots have been usedprimarily by a blind person, and correspondence between the blind personand a person with vision who was unaware of Braille was not possible.Now it is possible with the present invention for the blind person tocommunicate in writing with a person who has vision and yet who isunable to understand Braille.

The object of the present invention is to provide a typewriter by meansof which Braille dots and/or visual letters are typewritten simply andfreely so that the blind person can communicate with others by means ofthe ordinary typewriter characters.

According to the present invention such typewriter is provided with acarriage which is adapted to be displaced each time a key is struck, andthe improvement comprises the provision of a displaceable U-shaped plateadjacent to said carriage and movable with respect thereto by anysuitable means, said plate fixedly supporting a tangible dot formingmember which comprises six projecting pins for engagement withcomplementary through holes in said member, said projecting pins beingresiliently supported by saiddot forming member and a resilientlysupported pad element being displaceable in the slot of said member.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be furtherdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings in which the samereference numerals designate the same parts in all figures:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a typewriter according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1 andshowing the details of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective View of the tangible dot forming member andassociated parts shown in an enlarged scale.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the tangible dot forming member shown inan enlarged scale.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the tangible dot forming member.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the pad element.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 1 designates the typewriter casing, in which atype unit having keys 2 is provided and coupled thereto are rockablymounted key-bars 3 which are hung by resilient springs 4. As will beseen from FIG. 2, movement of one of the keys 2 after striking it isadapted to transmit such striking action to a carriage feed mechanism 6(not shown in detail). The element designated by the numeral 5 in FIG. 2is an operating rod which is connected to the carriage feed mechanism 6and serves as a transmitting member for the carriage feed mechanism 6after the type bar has been struck. One end of a rockably mountedL-shaped crank 7 is attached to the key-bar 3, and provided at the otherend of crank 7 is a pin 8 which engages with a curved slot 10 providedin a rockably mounted type bar 9. On the other end which is the free endof said type bar is fixed a type member 11 having on the outer sidethereof recesses 12 for a Braille character and a corresponding lettertype element 13 arranged in a row. A U-shaped plate 14 is provided onwhich a tangible dot forming member 15 is fixed and through anintermediate space of which a paper 16 capable of being typewritten onis passed and can be displaced relative to the typewriter casing 1.U-shaped plate 14 is slidably coupled to casing 1 by any suitable means,such as a tongue and groove, slideway, channel and bar, etc. so that theplate 14 will have two operative positions as explained infra, one towrite Braille dots and the other not to write Braille dots. As shown inFIG. 2 a channel 40 is provided between casing 1 and typewriter carriage24 to permit movement of plate 14. As is shown in FTGS. 4 and 5, thetangible dot forming member 15 includes six pins 17 arranged in twovertical rows, three high and two wide, which are placed in six throughholes on said member, and the pins of each row are supported by threeparallel resilient pieces 18. Said pieces are also supported by platespring 19 which is afiixed to dot forming member 15. Thus the pin endsof the six pins 17 project from member 15. Therefore when the typemember 11 strikes the pin ends, the paper 16 between the type member 11and the pin ends is raised by six pins 17 in cooperation with thecorresponding recesses 12 provIded in the type member 11, but when thereis no corresponding recess the paper is not raised because the roundedhead of a pin 17 is pressed against the resilient piece 18 and platespring 19 as shown in FIG. 4. The tangible dot forming member 15 alsoincludes a pad element 21 which is arranged below the six pins 17, andcan be moved in slot 20 of said member and corresponds to and is alignedwith the letter type element 13 of the type member 11 (shown FIG. 5).The pad element 21 is provided with two supporting springs 30 at itsback and an operating arm 31 on its side (shown in FIG. 6). The carriage24, on which the paper to be typewritten is held between rollers 22 andon the paper shelf 23, is adapted to be fed by means of the carriagefeed mechanism 6 each time the key 2 is struck. The ink ribbon 26 fromits enclosures 25 is caused to pass through the portion to betypewritten in a well known manner. On the rear side of the dot formingmember 15, there is formed a recessed space as shown in FIG. 5, in whichthe springs support the pad element 21 against the U-shaped plate 14when the element 21 is displaced in the slot 20 by means of theoperating arm 31 in order to typewrite Braille dots only.

When the pad element 21 of the tangible dot forming member 15 is locatedbelow the six projecting pins 17 and the U-shaped plate 14 is arrangedto correspond with the type member 11, Braille dots and visualtypewritten letters can be typewritten in known manner. Further whensaid element 21 is displaced from below said pins 17 and only said pins17 are caused to correspond with recesses 12 of the type member 11, onlyBraille dots are typewritten. Furthermore, when said element 21 is displaced from below said pins 17 and said plate 14 is displaced so thatsaid element 21 is caused to correspond with a letter type element 13 ofsaid member 11, only visual typewritten letters are typewritten. Duringtypewriting, the U-shaped plate 14 is adapted to be stationary relativeto the typewriter casing 1, and when only visual letters aretypewritten, the plate 14 is displaced relative to the typewritercasing, and the pad element is moved by the operating arm 31 by hand andretained in position when struck by the type bar 9, in the slot 20 ofmember 15. Thus, the recesses 12 of the type bar 9 strike the flatsurface part of the member 15 adjacent to the six pins 17 therein sothat a tangible dot is not formed on the paper, and the letter typeelement of the type bar 9 strikes the pad element 21 in its displacedposition so that only visual typewritten letters are typewritten.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore describedand shown in the accompanying drawings, said embodiment beingsusccpt'ble of various mod fications with respect to its details,without departing from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A typewriter including a casing, keys, a carriage capasmegma ble ofbeing displaced each time a key is struck, type bars each havingrecesses for Braille dots and a letter type element on its end, aU-shaped plate coupled to said casing and displaceable relative thereto,a dot forming member being fixed to said U-shaped plate and providedwith six through holes, six projecting pins provided on said dot formingmember for engagement with said through holes and cooperating with saidrecesses for said Braille dots, a resilient member for each saidprojecting pin and coupled to said dot forming member, a pad elementcooperating with said letter type element and means controlling theengagement of said letter type element with said pad element.

2. A typewriter as claimed in claim 1 in which the controlling meansincludes an operating arm coupled to said pad element for moving it outof engagement with said letter type element permitting printing ofBraille dots only.

3. A typewriter as claimed in claim 1 in which the U- shaped plate ismovable to carry said projecting pins out of position for engaging withsaid recesses, and said pad element is movable relative to said U-shapedplate for engagement with said letter type element for printingtypewritten letters only.

4. In a typewriter having a carriage which is adapted to be displacedwhen a key of said typewriter is struck, the improvement comprising theprovision of a displaceable U-shaped plate adjacent said carriage, atangible dot forming member having a slot therein and being fixed tosaid plate, said member having through holes, six projecting pinsresiliently supported in said through holes, and a resiliently supportedpad element which is displaceable in the slot of said member, a type-barhaving recesses for Braille dots, a letter type element coupled to anend of said type-bar, said recesses cooperating with said pins to writesolely Braille dots and said letter type element cooperating with saidpad element to Write solely typewritten letters, and means to displacesaid pad element in said slot for effecting alignment of said pins andsaid pad element to write simultaneously Braille dots and typewrittenletters.

5. The improvement as claimed in claim 4 including three pairs ofparallel resilient pieces supporting said six pins and plate springssupporting said resilient pieces.

6. A typewriter comprising a casing, keys, a carriage displaceable eachtime one of said keys is struck, type bars each having recesses forBraille dots and a letter type element on its end, a U-shaped platecoupled to said casing and displaceable relative thereto, a dot formingmember fixed to said U-shaped plate and provided with six through holesand a slot, six projecting pin provided on said dot forming member forengagement with said through holes and cooperating with said recessesfor said Braille dots, a resilient member for each said projecting pinand coupled to said dot forming member, and a pad element displaceablein said slot and cooperating with said letter type element, saidprojecting pins being positioned to engage with said recesses for saidBraille dots and said pad element with said letter type element forprinting Braille dots and typewritten letters, said pad element beingmoved out of engagement with said letter element for printing solelyBraille dots and said U-shaped plate being displaced relative to saidcasing to move said projecting pins out of engagement with said recessesand said pad element being positioned to engage with said letter typeelement for printing solely typewritten letters.

7. A typewriter as claimed in claim 6 including a pair of plate springscoupled to said dot forming member for supporting said resilientmembers, one of said plate springs being provided for each set of threeresilient members.

References lited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,414,229 Steinkraus Apr. 25, 1922

